Going back

30|| Information

A/N: Here's chapter 30. Enjoy, people.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Iris shook her head and curled up into a tighter ball, pressing her face into her knees. "I don't know. It's- it's a lot to handle right now."

"What is?"

"Everything." She swiped her hand in a tired movement through the air and let her arm flop back down. "I feel like I should have everything sorted by now, y'know? But I don't. I don't know what to do. My ex-best friend- who is a traitor, by the way- just fucking rose from the dead like some zombie, my current best friend probably hates me and I can't blame him, and my mother is- my mother has been murdered. Then there's another asshole who's also come back to life, no idea how, with his creepy messages, and then there's Mia's information and I don't- I don't wha—"

"Woah, hey." Elijah rested his hands on her shoulders and gently shook her. "Iris, breathe."

"I think I'm having a panic attack."

"Take a deep breath."

"There's no time—"

"You have time to breathe," he said in a serious tone, prying her hands away from her face to stop her from making deep gashes into her cheeks. "Everyone does, otherwise we'd all be dead. Now inhale. Exhale."

Iris did as he asked with a slight chuckle. She realised she had been digging her nails into his wrists, but he didn't make a single cry of pain and a twist of warmth spread through her.

"Now," Elijah continued, rubbing soothing circles on her inner wrist. "I want you to imagine all the steps you need to take as tiny boxes."

"Eh?"

"Just do it."

Iris closed her eyes and pictured a white room clustered with what felt like a million black and grey boxes. A gasp pushed past her lips and she could feel her heartbeat spike, but Elijah's unwavering words forced her to maintain contact with reality.

"Now, which box is calling to you?"

"The one asking me to shove your head in it."

"Oi." He lightly rapped her head. "I'm trying to help you."

"Sorry, sorry. Uh... it's the one... asking me to- to deal with Jax and John."

"Who's John?"

"Ah." Iris opened her eyes. "Erm, it's complicated. I need to talk with Dad and Jax first, if that's okay?"

"Of course." Elijah scooted off the bed and pulled her to her feet. "I'll get Harry and Jax here, alright?"

He left for a few moments and there was whispered shouting outside the door. Iris heard her name several times, but could not muster the energy to care.

Her phone dinged and she swiped on the lockscreen to reveal a message from James.

Information attached as a pdf
Cole says hi and that you owe him one

Perfect timing. She thought, typing out a reply. Thanks! Remind him what happened in Germany- no way I'm in his debt.

"Elijah said you wanted to talk?" Harry came and knelt by Iris' feet with a gentle and understanding smile. "What's going on, Rose?"

A lot. "Harry, um, I meant to tell you this earlier, but... John contacted Jax."

"What?" Harry snapped his head over to Jax and gripped his shoulders. He spun him around and scanned for injuries. "Are you hurt? Did he hurt you? Are you okay? I swear if he touched you—"

"This was about two weeks ago, so I'm fine." Jax pushed him away with an awkward chuckle. "Iris, I thought you said we should keep this private?"

"A few weeks?" Harry's eyes narrowed until they were almost slits. "So why am I only hearing about this now?"

"Iris told me to."

"Way to sell me out, man."

"And if Iris told you to jump off a bridge, would you?" Harry crossed his arms.

"Well," Jax mumbled. "I'm probably more likely to jump first, and she followed— oh. That's not the right answer, is it?"

"No, it's not." Harry sighed and looked up as if asking the heavens for advice. I wish Elise was here to help me. "I know you both are in that rebellion teenage phase right now, but you have to understand how dangerous John is and it was very irresponsible for you not to tell me."

"We're sorry," the children said in unison, looking down at the floor in shame.

"It's fine, now. Tell me what the message said."

"Here." Jax passed over his phone. "It's just a very terrible rhyme."

"I contacted a friend of mine- his fiancé has some excellent resources and sent me what he could find on John." Iris downloaded the pdf and scrolled through, her eyes scanning and picking out important tidbits of information.

"Who is this friend?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

"Trusted source. Known him for a few years and he won't turn on me- he knows what I'll do to him if he does." This is how relationships should be- built on transactions and the mutual understanding that both sides could destroy each other after a betrayal. Nice and easy without complicated emotions involved.

Alex's grinning face rose to mind and she beat it away with a mental bat. Nope.

Jax's eyes widened as he sat down beside her. "Oh is it—"

"No, it's the other one."

"The other one?"

"No, not that other one. The other other one."

"Oh, is it the other one with the—"

"Yeah."

"Hey, hey." Harry snapped his fingers repeatedly. "Translate the mental talk for me, kids. I'm getting too old for this."

Iris pushed back a stray clump of dark hair, exhaustion sinking its deep claws into her bones and dragging her into the realm of sleep. "Doesn't matter. I've forwarded the information to you both. Take a look and see if it's credible."

"What're we gonna do about the woman Mia mentioned- Meredith, Brandon said her name was?" Jax questioned, his red hair flopping over his eyes.

Iris brushed it away before she could stop herself. "You need a haircut."

"Answer the question, Rainbow."

She sighed and let her hand drop. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do about Meredith!"

"What we're going to do about Meredith," Harry corrected. "It's fine, we'll discuss it in the morning. I think the West-Browns were talking about putting Alex in their spare room—"

Her head snapped up. "Oh, no. No, no, no."

She stormed over to her door and pulled it open, nearly tearing it off at the hinges. "Oi!"

The chatter stopped and several pairs of eyes landed on her expectantly.

Iris tilted her chin upwards and focused on David. "Alex will be sleeping in my room."

Then all hell broke loose.

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Stay safe and thanks for reading :)